It did not come as much of a shocker to see that Ashok Leyland had shown a 42% (YoY) drop in net profit at Rs.150 crore for Q4FY13. Given the past monthly sales trends over the past few months, this was very much expected. Lower demand was seen in the topline itself, which for the quarter came in at Rs.3648 crore, down 14%.  And its numbers for FY13 were also not encouraging. Net sales dropped 4% at Rs.12,203 crore and net profit was at Rs.434 crore, down sharply by 23%.

During Q4FY13, the company had an exceptional income of Rs.134 crore, which was the gain made on investments. But for this item, the company could have actually ended the quarter with a much lower net profit. Ditto for FY13, wherein exceptional income was at Rs.289 crore.  Its debt as at 31^st March 2013 stood at Rs.3505 crore.  The company is planning on an organizational revamp wherein it will create three different divisions – trucks, bus and power solutions. Each division will be independent. Looking ahead, the first month of current fiscal has not begun on a good note. The monthly sales numbers for April indicates that total sales on a YoY dropped 12%. The sale of CVs was down 19% and Dosti  reported a 1% rise.  For the current fiscal, the company has planned on four launches, which includes two cargo carriers, named  ‘ Boss’ and ‘Partner’.